Salted Wound
by LeanaVine
Summary: Marceline discovers that she's known Princess Bubblegum a lot longer than she originally thought. (Includes Woman/Woman. Bubbline, Marceline/Bonnibel.)


"Are you comfortable?"

PB smiled at her. "Yeah." Marceline looked funny, trying to figure out how to hook up her new Blu-ray player. Bubblegum sat on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and a giant chocolate bar. Although she really wanted to eat the chocolate now, she was saving it for later. She patiently munched on her popcorn, giggling when Marcy got frustrated at her TV. "Do you want my help?"

"No, I don't," the Vampire Queen hissed. "Stupid gift, anyway. Why did you have to get me this thing?"

PB rolled her eyes. "Because, the movie we're going to watch looks so much better on Blu-ray. You really need a Blu-ray player to appreciate all the details and graphics."

Marceline stopped to look back at the princess. "So, why didn't we just watch this at your house, then?"

Bubblegum grinned. "Because it's time you got caught up with the rest of civilization." When Marcy looked back to her work, Bonnibel mumbled, "And cause I love your couch."

Eventually, Marceline got the Blu-ray player all set up, and Bubblegum applauded her, even though setting up a Blu-ray player is supposed to be super easy. "Alright, now show me what we're gonna be watching," Marceline demanded, tapping her foot. She really had no patience.

Bonnibel produced a CD in a paper sleeve and handed it to Marcy. The vampire looked at the small package curiously, taking the disk out of the paper. She scowled when there was no name written on the front. She popped it into the player and tossed the remote to PB before floating over and sitting next to the princess.

"Do I at least get to know what we're watching?" Marceline asked, slumping against Bonnibel, who turned to make the vampire more comfortable.

The candy princess blew some of Marceline's hair out of her face. "You'll know in a second." She pressed play, and eagerly bounced a little. Marcy glanced at her, half smiling at PB's excited face.

* * *

Some light music started to play from Marcy's speakers, something soft and sweet. Marcy hadn't ever heard this song before. There was a harp, and it also had a subtle bass line that she really liked. Then she heard a voice. "C'mon Simon, just look at me." It was a high voice, that of a little girl, followed by giggles. Marceline's eyes widened.

The picture faded in, and it was a shaky view of Simon bent over an old, rusty car, looking at some paper. "Simooon," the small voice chimed. It was Marceline recording.

The man turned to look at her, half smiling. "Hi Marcy." He gave a half-hearted wave. He looked so weak and tired.

The picture faded out and showed PB and Marceline in the park. They were having a picnic, sitting on the grass on top of a light blue blanket. Bubblegum was eating a sandwich, and Marcy was drinking the red from a tomato. Peppermint Butler walked up, and Marceline smiled at him devilishly. She picked him up, drinking some of his red. Bubblegum threw her sandwich at Marcy, most likely telling her to stop - nothing could be heard from this distance.

The princess' sandwich exploded everywhere, and Marcy hissed at her, tackling her to the ground. At first, it looked like PB squealed, but then she laughed, kissing the tip of the vampire's nose. Peppermint Butler took this opportunity to waddle away, swaying from the loss of some of his red.

The picture quickly switched back to a back view of Simon walking, Marceline's little feet scraping the pavement as she tried to keep up. "Simon, where are we going now?" she asked as she huffed.

"Don't worry, Marcy," the older man told her. He coughed, then smiled at her. "It won't be much longer. Do you want me to carry you?"

Then Simon was gone, and it was a frame of PB and Marcy back in the park. Marceline and Bubblegum were still on their picnic blanket, the princess sitting in the queen's lap. Marcy's red, axe bass was in Bubblegum's lap, and Marceline was showing her how to play it. Even though no music could be heard from this distance, it was easy to tell from the vampire's expression that Bonnibel was hitting a lot of sour notes. Still, the pink girl smiled and laughed as she attempted to play.

Marceline then looked at Bonnibel and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. The princess stopped playing to smile back at the vampire. She kissed Marcy on the jaw, then turned back to the bass, attempting to play again. It looked like Bonnie started to sing something along with the music. Marcy just watched her, a tranquil look on her face.

Suddenly the camera shook into a frame of Simon standing with his back to Marceline. There was a woman's voice shouting, "Give me the child, Simon!"

"Never!" he screamed back. "She's safe with me; you'll end up putting her in a jar full of alcohol!"

"Simon!" Marceline shrieked, peeking from behind his leg. The camera showed Bubblegum standing there, her fists clenched. "Who is that?" the little vampire asked with a quivering voice.

Bubblegum looked at her. She whispered softly, "Come with me, child. I will take you somewhere safe." She held out a hand to Marceline.

Marcy looked up at Simon, who stared down at her with fear in his eyes. He took off his glasses and reached for his crown. "Don't worry, Marcy," he mumbled. "I'll make her go away."

"No Simon!" She grabbed his arm. "Don't put it on again!"

Simon pushed her away, and the little vampire fell to the ground. She looked up to see Simon putting on the crown. A pink hand grabbed her forearm, tugging her to her feet and picking her up. Bubblegum was running with Marceline in her arms. Marcy still had the camera pointed back at Simon, who was swept up in a whirlwind of snow and ice. He screamed, "Witch! Bring back Gunter! Gunter!"

The camera cut out then, and faded back in to show Marceline laying in a little bed. She was waking, and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Where am I?" she asked.

"This is fascinating," a voice said from behind the camera. It was PB. She zoomed in on Marcy's now frightened face. "How does this work?"

Marceline scrambled out of bed, running to the corner of the room. As Bonnibel turned to her, the vampire asked, "Wh-where's Simon? Who are you?"

"Please," Bonnie urged her, "don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. No one is ever going to hurt you again."

"I want Simon!" the little girl screamed, falling to her knees and covering her head. "I want Hambo. I want to go home!"

The princess set the camera on the floor, but it was still pointed at Marceline. PB walked over to her, kneeling and softly laying a hand on Marcy's short, black hair. "Simon was too dangerous for you to be around. He would have ended up hurting you. I wanted to save you before that happened." Marceline looked up at her, sniffling with tears running down her cheeks.

Bonnibel smiled at her. "My name is Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum. I rule the Candy Kingdom, and that's where you are now. Do you have a name?"

The little vampire rubbed her face. "Marceline..."

PB nodded, smiling gently. "It's nice to meet you, Marceline. You can call me Bonnie." She stood, holding out a hand to Marcy. "You must be hungry. Come with me, and I'll make sure that you're fed."

Hesitating momentarily, Marceline took her hand and walked with her out of frame. Before they left the room, Marceline could be heard saying, "Where's Hambo?"

"Who is Hambo? I can go look for him."

The camera cut out again, then revealed someone watching Simon from an alleyway. He was still wearing the crown, snow and ice twirling in the air around him. He was calling out, "Gunter? Gunter where are you? Daddy's sorry, Gunter!"

"Oh Simon..." It was PB holding the camera. The picture cut out again, then came back to show Bubblegum walking up a street covered in snow. This was where she had intercepted Marceline from Simon. On the ground was a little red bear covered in sleet. She picked him up, wiping the snow off of him. "Hey, little guy. Is your name Hambo?" The camera started beeping, and an icon flashed in the corner to indicate that the battery was about to die. "What does this thing want?" PB questioned it quietly.

She heard a scream, and turned to see Simon flying at her quickly. His face was terrifying, bent in pure rage and hate. "Witch!" he screamed, firing ice her way.

Bubblegum quickly ducked out of the way, but hissed in pain, looking down to see that her arm had been sliced open so far it was barely attached. It slowly began to regenerate, threads of pink bubblegum twining together to reform her skin. She looked up to see the Ice King coming at her again. Then the camera died.

* * *

At this point, Marceline was seated on the edge of the couch, her eyes glued to the screen. The movie ended, and the picture returned to the Blu-ray menu. Bubblegum gently put a hand on her shoulder, a little afraid to see how she might react. "Marcy, are you okay?" she questioned softly.

Marcy turned to her, pushing her off the couch. "Why did you take me away from Simon?" she yelled. She hadn't remembered any of that. "I thought we met when we were teenagers! Why did you steal me away?"

"Marceline, he would have killed you," PB said calmly from the couch. She had expected this much, but she wanted the vampire to understand.

"I could have saved him!" she shouted as she stood. "Why did you wait so long to tell me all of this?"

Sheepishly, Bonnibel replied, "I didn't think you would believe me. But after Finn told me that he was recording us that day in the park, I remembered the camera you had when I met you. It took me forever to find it, and I'm still surprised that the footage wasn't damaged after all this time."

She stood, taking one of Marcy's hands in her own. "Please, don't be angry with me. I just knew that you've always blamed yourself for what happened to Simon, and I don't want you to feel that way. There was nothing you could've done."

Marceline continued to glare for a second more, then collapsed into Bubblegum's arms, tears pouring down her cheeks.

When Marceline had calmed down, they sat back on the couch, and the princess started to explain everything. "I had heard rumors about a man with a magic crown traveling through the abandoned city. At first, I sent some scouts to look for him, but only one returned, claiming the man had killed the rest.

"I sent a small army after that. If this man was dangerous, I didn't need him to hurt anyone else. Only a few of the soldiers came back, refusing to go out again. I decided to wait before sending out more men. Obviously, whoever this stranger was, he was a force to be reconed with.

"So, I sent people to watch him. They reported back that this man was old, frail, and seemed gentle. I thought they had the wrong person, until one of them got caught. One of my spies reported seeing the other get frozen in a block of ice. They said he had a crown that gave him magical powers. They also told me he now had a little girl with him.

"They continued to watch you for me. We learned that this man's name was Simon. As time went on, Simon became more and more unstable. My main concern was getting you out of there before he lost his mind and turned on you. None of my soldiers were brave enough to go with me, so I went alone. The rest, you know now."

Marceline stared at the floor, unsure of what to think of Bubblegum's words. "Why...why don't I remember staying with you?" she inquired. Her whole body felt numb.

"You didn't stay in the Candy Kingdom long," Bonnibel told her. "And while you were with me, you were very introverted. You stayed in your room. I always assumed you repressed your memories of that time. But when I found the tape, I knew it was time to tell you."

They were both silent, then Marceline murmured, "I need to be alone."

PB frowned, but nodded. "I understand." She reached to place a hand on Marcy's arm, but stopped herself, pulling her hand away. Bonnibel stood, leaving the vampire's house. She called down Morrow so they could fly home.

* * *

"That was totally bogus, Jake!" Finn shouted, his arms raised in the air.

With a shrug, the magical dog said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." They started a new round on their racing game, _Vroom Vroom Veggies_. PB had given it to them a few weeks ago. The winner always got a fun fact about veggies. "I'm the bell pepper this time," Jake stated.

"No way, dude! You know the bell pepper is my favorite!" Finn pouted and reluctantly chose the broccoli stalk. Then there was a knock at the door, so he called out, "Come iiiiinnn!"

Marceline floated up the ladder and over to the boys. "Hey," she mumbled.

Finn looked at her, confused. "Marcy, you never knock. What's the prob, Bob?"

She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. "Why did you film me and PB that day? I just saw the video."

Looking back at BMO's screen, the human boy answered, "Because, Jake didn't believe me when I said you guys were dating, so I had to get proof. PB caught me showing the video to Jake, so she confiscated it. I thought she destroyed it." He glanced back at her. "Why are you so mopey?"

The vampire queen stood, floating over to the couch and sitting down. "Why are you guys playing on the floor?"

"Whatever it is, Finn, she doesn't want to talk about it," Jake told his friend. "Don't bug her. Marceline, do you wanna play the winner?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

They played for at least two hours, then decided to have dinner. It was dark and rainy outside as Marceline stared out the window, drinking the blood from a pair of Finn's socks. The boys were having spaghetti, their favorite dinner. She wished she had her bass right now. The vampire was feeling so many different emotions, and the best way to get rid of those feelings was to play. It helped that the boys distracted her, but her mind would always come back to Bonnibel and their secret history.

Soon the boys went to bed, and bid their friend a good night. Finn still seemed a little worried about Marcy, but Jake pushed him to leave her alone. The vampire laid down, floating above the couch. The rain outside was calming for her crazed mind. She wanted to talk to Bonnie, but she was scared. Were they going to break up now? How could she trust Bonnie after learning all this new stuff? They last time they broke up, it destroyed them, to the point that they were nasty to each other. The vampire queen didn't want to go through that again.

The vampire flew home, her hands in her pockets. The rain felt good against her gray skin, and the moon was so bright and beautiful. Once back in her cave, she took a shower and dressed in fresh clothes. She still wasn't sure what she was going to say, but made her way to the Candy Kingdom anyway.

* * *

Bonnie was tossing and turning all night, but was startled when she heard her bedroom window open. She sat up, only to see her girlfriend sitting in the windowsill. She said nothing, but walked slowly towards her. Bonnie froze when Marcy started talking.

"I know that I'm in love with you, and I haven't been able to say it since the last time we broke up." Bonnie swallowed, her hands in tight fists. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to be in love with you again, because I didn't know if I could trust you. Then, today, you show me this video, and it turns out you've kept a lot of things secret from me. It makes me feel like maybe I don't even know who you are.

"But I realized that...even if I don't know who you are, I still want to be with you. You'll tell me who you are when you're ready, and I can't force you. But that doesn't mean you're a bad person, or that I can't trust you. I don't think you would've showed me that video unless you really loved me. You decided to tell the truth, and that means a lot to me."

She turned to see the pink girl crying, sticky tears running down her face. Bonnie half smiled, and Marcy told her, "I love you so much." Hesitantly, she hugged her pink girlfriend, letting her sob into her shoulder.

"I love you more," was all Bonnie could manage to say.


End file.
